Spring door hinges



United States Patent SPRING DOOR HINGES Julius W. Tykeson, Fort Madison, Iowa Application February 14, 1958, Serial No..715,300

2 Claims. (Cl. 16-182) constructed that the door may be disengaged from the torsion spring return mechanism by simply lifting the door, thereby enabling it to stay in any midway position between fully closed and fully open, independently of the torsion spring closing mechanism; and the door may then be restored to the influence of the spring closing mechanism by simply again moving the door to closed position.

My principal object is to provide a hinge constructlon which'achieves this mode of operationwithout undue complexity in the hinge mechanism so that it is inexpensive to manufacture and simple to maintain.

These and further objects will appear as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view, broken away and partly in vertical section, of the complete hinge;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation view showing certain parts in different positions from Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the support plate, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the anchor plates. I

In the preferred embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawing, the reference 1 designates the fixed support for the hinge adapted to be secured to the door jamb 60 as by suitable wood screws 10. Protruding outwardly from the plate 1 are upper and lower flanges 11 and 12 (Fig. 5) formed with aligned orifices 13 and 13' for the reception of the pivot pin 6 and certain associated parts.

The bracket in which the door is secured is designated at 2 having side wings 2a and 2b (Fig. 2) and a back plate 20, in which the door 62 is secured as by wood screws 20.

Extending inwardly toward the jamb from the bracket 2 are upper and lower plates 21 and 22 suitably apertured to receive the extremities of the pivot pin 6 with a snug friction fit.

The pivot pin 6, fixedly mounted between the plates 21 and 22 for rotation when the door is rotated, is rotatably mounted in the sleeve bushing 4 which is narrowed at its extremities to form the opposite shoulders 41 and 42 and with its narrowed extremity friction fitted into the apertures 13, 13' of the flanges 11 and 12.

The upper and lower plates 21 and 22 are spaced apart by a predetermined distance greater than the spacing between the flanges 11 and 12 and the pivot pin 6 is elongated correspondingly in order that, for a purpose which will appear, the pivot pin may move in an axial direction relative to the plate 1.

Surrounding the sleeve bushing 4 and extending lengthwise thereof is a torsion spring 5 anchored at its upper end in an anchor plate 3 (Figs. 2 and 6) by reception, in the aperture 31 of the anchor plate, of the extremity 51 of the spring. At its opposite extremity (Fig. 3) the torsion spring is anchored in anchor plate 73 by the reception of the extremity 65 of the spring in an aperture 67.

As will be described, the anchor plates 3 and 73 at times function to support the weight of the door, for which purpose the anchor plate 3 rests on and is supported by the shoulder 41 of the sleeve bushing 4; the i bushing 4, in turn, bears on the lower plate 73 supported by flange 12 of supporting bracket 1.

In mounting the anchor plates 3 and 73 in position,

the torsion spring 5 may be given any torque desired and with the extremity 51 secured in the plate 3 and the lower extremity 65 secured in the plate 73 as above described, the spring will urge upper plate 3 counterclockwise and lower plate 73 clockwise, both as viewed from above.

Plate 3 is formed with an arcuate surface 33, the seg-' anchor plate 13 is similarly constructed and similarly has a stop surface 70 abutting the inner surface of support plate 1 to inhibit rotation of plate 13 in a clockwise direction beyond the abutting positions shown in Fig. 3.

Protruding from the inner wall 20 of the support .bracket 2 in proximity to the upper anchor plate 3 is a drive lug 37 which, as shown by Fig. 2, protrudes into the path of shoulder 38 protruding radially on the upper anchor plate 3.

Lower anchor plate 13 has a similar shoulder 72 protruding into the path of drive lug 39 struck out from the support bracket 2 in proximity to the lower anchor plate.

The torsion spring and related parts are concealed by the cylindrical cover 7.

With the mechanism constructed and assembled as above described, its operation will, it is believed, he understood. The parts are shown in Figs. 1 to 3 in the positions they assume when the door is closed. If the door is now opened from its closed position by a movement which will rotate the pivot pin 6, for example, in a clockwise direction (Fig. 3) moving the bracket 2 toward the reader in Fig. 1, lug 37 will engage shoulder 38 rotating anchor plate 3 away from its stop position of Fig. 2, wherein stop surface 34 is in abutment with the bracket 1, and applying torque to the spring to load it as the opening of the door proceeds. The bottom extremity of the spring is at this time held motionless by engagement of surface 70 of the lower anchor plate 73 with the bracket 1.

When the door is released the torsion loading of spring 5 will move the door to closed position. Its momentum carrying it beyond closed position will cause the reverse operation then to ensue in which the lower anchor plate 73 rotates counterclockwise to load the spring 5 in the opposite direction. These oscillations continue until they decay and the door comes to rest.

Patented Feb." 16,- 1960 Iii time? to hold me door open in any desired position'; it is necessary simply to lift it, thereby raising bracket 2 relative to supportl, moving pivot pin a up wardly, through the sleeve bushing 4, until lug 37 is above anchor plate 31, at which time'lug 39 will also be above the upper surface of lower anchor in -73;. The parts are shown in such elevated position in Fig; 4-. The door may then be moved to any desired positionin dependently of any rotation of the anchor plates 3 and 73 and hence independently of the torsion spring 5, Release of the door in any position of adjustment will allow its weight to be taken by lugs 37 and 3h resting on the upper surfaces of anchor plates 3 and 73 and the door will remain in any desired position. store the door to its automatic spring hinge action,,it is necessary simply to push the door to closed position when lugs 37 and 39 will be released from the upper supporting surfaces of the anchor platesand will here stored to their positions shown in Fig. 1. I

It is apparent that my invention, the preferred embodiment of which has been described above, is subject to a certain modification, if required to suit the needs of individual users, and my invention is not to be limited except as the appended claims require.

I claim: I I

1. A spring door hinge. comprising in combination, a support for a dooradapted to be mounted on a jamb, a bracketadapted to be secured to the door and pivotally mounted on the support, a torsion spring, an anchor plate rotatably mounted adjacent each end of the torsion spring and secured thereto for rotation of one plate ma clockwise direction and the other in a counterclockwise direction under the torque of the spring, drive means connected to the bracket for engaging one or the other of the anchor plates upon movement of the door bracket to rotate one anchor plate in a direction to load the spring, and stop means for each anchor plate to inhibit its rotation when the other anchor plate is being r tated by said drive means, whereby the torque of the spring urges the bracket to return after rotation of the bracket in either direction, the pivotal mounting of the bracket on the support including elongated pin means To repermitting movement of the bracket relative to the support in a direction lengthwise of the axis of the spring for disengagement of the drive means from driving engagement with the anchor plates for freedom of rotation of the bracket independently of the torque of said spring. 2. A spring door hinge comprising in combination, pivot pin means, a bracket, for mounting a door on the pin means, having vertically spaced flanges in which the extremities of the pin means are mounted, a fixed support adapted to be mounted on a jamb' and having, vertically spaced flanges through. which the pin means passes, a torsion. spring surrounding the pin means,.a pair of anchor plates, one adjacent each end of the spring'in which the adjacent spring end is anchored, mounted for rotation about the axis of the pin means, lugs protruding from the bracket, selectively to engage and rotate one or the other of said anchor plates in a direction to load the spring, stop means foreach of the .anchor plates to hold it against rotationwhen thc'o ther anchor plate is rotated in a direction 'to load the spring, at least. one of the flanges of the bracketbeing positioned to rest .on a flange of the support, to support the weight of the door, the space vertically separating the flanges on the bracket being greater than the said space separating the flanges of the support, so that the bracket may be moved vertically relative to the support, axially of the pivot pin means, to move the lugs outof engagement with the anchor plates, at least one of the flanges of the support being disposed in position to support an anchor plate against motion axially of the pivot. pin means to support the weight of the door when the lugs are disposed in position to rest on the upper surfaces of said anchor plates, whereby the door in elevated position may be rotated ineither direction without loading the torsion spring.

802,862 Htichstra's s er Oct. 24, 1905.

839,589 Hochstrasser Dec. 25, 1906 

